Barefoot

There's a quote on this cover about Barefoot making you want to pick up everything and head to the beach. Which it did-- Just to get me away from this book! Elin Hilderbrand writes to show us how smart and well-read she is, trying to make herself sound brilliant and comparable to the great works of literature one might study as an English major, while presenting herself as a beach-read chick-lit author. And Barefoot certainly appears to be a beach read, but it clearly is not.  Hilderbrand, in mixing her demographics and genres, seemingly to obtain more readers, must be losing readers from both sides. She attempted to write an intellectual beach book and failed. I can't say that I recommend this book. 

The Wide-Awake Princess #2: Unlocking the Spell

 

ED Baker introduces us to a new kind of princess in her Wide-Awake Princess series.  This princess is named Annie, and she is unaffected by magic.  She can't be "magicked" beautiful, like other princesses, but she also can't be placed under any magic spells. And when Annie gets too close to someone, their magic starts to fade. 

Unlocking the Spell is the second in the series, but it is fairly easy to read as a stand alone. I didn't read the first one, but I could put enough together (context clues!) to understand and enjoy this novel. 

I enjoyed Unlocking the Spell for its morals and lessons.  Princess Annie isn't a traditional princess. And that's okay. Her sister is a traditional princess: girly, a bit of a priss, and beautiful. And that's okay too. Growing up, they weren't necessarily friends, but throughout this novel, they learn a lot about each other and grow closer together on their quest. There's other nice lessons to be learned from this novel. It's great. 

Written on about a 4th-5th grade reading level, I would recommend this to upper elementary readers (and their parents!). However, it was still enjoyable for me, much more enjoyable than other books I've read with students at that level! It's also nice that the princesses are older, so for an older-yet-struggling-reader, it doesn't seem like a baby book. I highly recommend this book and I'm going to give my copy to Jordyn. I hope she likes it! If not, I'm sure my mom will :) 

 

*I won this novel from Goodreads FirstReads. All opinions expressed are my own.

Distant Waves

Well, folks, now that I'm caught up on blogging about my life, I think I'll start blogging about books again :) 

Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn tells the story of a young girl named Jane as she comes to age in a world of mysticism, Tesla, and the Titanic. Jane's mother, a medium, is down-on-her-luck, and after a strange encounter with Tesla, she moves her family to the town of Spirit Vale, which is fully of mediums. Jane's mother and twin sisters are quite sold on the idea of mysticism, but Jane isn't quite convinced. 

Jane and her older sister are working hard to make it on their own, outside of Spirit Vale.  Jane encounters Telsa again, she even has a little crush on his assistant, and makes Tesla the subject of her article for a journalism contest. 

Thanks to mysticism, Jane and her family end up on England, and then the Titanic. Disaster, obviously, ensues, and Tesla may be involved!

I found Distant Waves  to be an interesting YA Historical Fiction read, though it was a little more speculation than actual history when you come right down to it. It was a cute book, nothing amazing, but I liked it well enough. Plus, Tesla's pretty awesome!

Nefertiti

 

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

We have all heard of Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt.  Moran tells her story from the unique perspective of her younger half-sister, Mutny. Nefertiti married Pharaoh Akhenaten, and together they appeared to be quite heretic due to Akhenaten's choice to worship the sun, Aten, as the only Egyptian God. 

They story starts as Akhenaten is still Amenhotep, after the Sun God Amen and his father, and his older brother, and heir, is still alive. It is implied that Amenhotep/Akhenaten kills his sick brother to hasten his own path to the throne. 

Nefertiti and Mutny are still at their parents' home, and the story shows the path of Nefertiti to marry Akhenaten and for her to become Chief Wife and Queen over Akhenaten's first wife. This is important because Nefertiti's father and Akehnaten's mother want Nefertiti to reign in Akhenaten's heretic ways, which is imperative to the storyline, as well as the happiness and support of the Egyptians to Akhenaten. 

Mutny, our narrator, as the younger sister, is thrown into Nefertiti's life as a constant support. Nefertiti walks all over her and demands her presence, to the point where Mutny has no life of her own. 

I strongly recommend this book. I really enjoyed it. Moran explained the importance of the Gods in Egyptian life, as well as the relevance of the change from Amen to Aten. The relationship between the sisters is very real, and the writing is great. I feel like I really got to know Mutny while learning a little bit about Egyptian history. Moran's Nefertiti should definitely go on your list.

[Aside: Nefertiti reminds me a lot of Anne Boleyn. And now that I say that, Akhenaten and

Henry VIII do have quite a few similarities themselves!]